Hair drier



Jan. 12," 1932. H Y 1,840,963

' HAIR DRIER Filed July 8, 1929 INV ENTOR: benr/ 6'. Lazy ATTORN YS.

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 PATENT OFFICE mm a. LEVY, or am mmncrsco, camroam HAIR DRIER Application filed July 8, 1929. Serial No. 376,508.

, the .user.

It is a further object of this invention to devise novel and improved diffusing means for use in conjunction with a hair drier of the above character, whereby currents of air .are appl1ed to the users head 1n agmanner which will produce most efficient and uniform drying.

Further objects of .the invention will appear from the'following description 1n which I have set forth the preferred embodiment of my invention.v It is to be understood that the appended claims are to be accorded a range of equivalents consistent with the state oftheprior art.

Referring to the drawings:

-Figure 1 is a side elevational view illustrating an apparatus incorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view looking toward the open end of the diffuser shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.3 is a cross sectional detail of the diffuser taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectionalview taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail partly in cross section, illustrating the arrangement of louvres for deflecting air currents.

Electrical hair driers of the prior art have commonly utilized an electrical fan or blower connected to a discharge conduit, in combination with electrical or equivalent means for supplying heat. Such apparatus .discharges a relatively concentrated stream of heated air which is manually directed upon different portions of the head of the user. The use of concentrated blasts of hot air in this manner is wasteful and inefiicient, it requires, continual manipulation by an operator, and the drying process is frequently uncomfortable to the user. -As disclosed in my Patent No. 1,744,586, granted January 21, 1930, I have found that it is desirable to employ a diffuser connected to the conduit from the fan or blower, for distributing the heated drying air to substantially all parts of the hair simultaneously. The present invention is in some respects an improvement of that disclosed in said Patent No. 1,744,586 particularly with respect to the manner in which the air currents are deflected and distributed within the diffuser to secure most uniform and efficient drying.

Referring to the drawings, I have disclosed my apparatus as comprising a fan or blower 11, driven by means of a suitable electrical motor 12. The blower and its driving motor are suitably supported by a standard 13, whi "1' is preferably vertically adjustable. Generally standard 13 is provided with an upper fork 14, pivotally connected to the motor 12, whereby the motor and the blower can be bodily swung in a vertical plane about tlie pivotal axis of the motor and blower shaft. Air is discharged from blower 11 thru a suitable conduit 16. For heating the air discharged by conduit 16, suitable electrical heating elements are provided, these elements being positioned either within the conduit 16 or within the housing of blower 11, so that the currents of air must come into contact with the same. The construction and arrangement of such electrical heating elements is well known in the art, and they need not be described in detail. It is sufiicient to state that the heating elements should be controllable by a suitable switch, so that varying degrees of heat can be supplied.

Connectedto the discharge end of conduit 16, I provide what can be termed a diffuser, or diffusing member. This member is preferably bell-shaped, and when in normal operating position its large open end is faced in a general downward direction. It is sufliciently large to accommodate the head of the user in such a manner that only the face and lower side portions of the head are exposed. The smaller end portion 18 of the diffuser is connected to conduit 16 by means of a curvedconduit section 19. The connection between conduit section 19 and conduit 16, is preferinterlocking engagement between conduit secably arranged in such a manner as to permit tion 19 and diffuser 17. the diffuser to be swung. back to an out of- The eflect of louvres I the way position, as shown in dotted lines in lows The center ortion of the air stream Fig. 1, and also to permit ready removal of lssulng from con uit section 19, is free to the diffuser together with conduit section 19. P etween louvres 31 and 32 without de- Fonthis purpose a hook 21 is shown secured t and 18 therefore lmpressed upon the to the upper edge of conduit section 19, and p P n Of the head of the user. Howthi h k i d t d to engage a u h d ever one side of the air stream is deflected 31 and 32 is as fol-.

member 22 secured to the upper edge of conduit 16. To engage hook 21 with member, 22., the diffuser must be positioned somewhat as shown in dotted lines in Fig- 1, after which the diifuser can be swung forwardly to operating position.

From the above, it is evident that when the" diffuser 17 is in normal operating posi-' tion, it can be said to have two side wall por- 20 tions 23, a'front wall portion 24, and a back wall portion 26, corresponding respectively to the sides, front and back of the head of the user. The lower edge of back wall portion 26 is-preferably struck or bent out to form a flange portion 27, which provides comfortable contact with the back of the neck. I

If the above described diffuser were employed without additional means for properly deflecting and distributing the air within the 30 same, a concentrated stream of air would be by louvres 31 and directed downwardly along the corresponding side wall portion 23 an alongthe side of the head of the user. orrespondingly air currents from the opposite side of conduit section 19 are deflected 1ou vres 32 so as to direct air currents ownwardly along the opposite side wall portion 23. Thus the air currents within the diffuser are distributed uniformly to both the side and top portions of the head.

With the arrangement of louvres 31 and 32 described above, I have found that an unpleasant draught of air may be discharged from the diffuser across both sides of the face from the side wall portions 23. I have found that this can be avoided, and the drying efl'ect alongthe sides of the head and "near the temples can be made more effective, by utilizing flaps or deflectors 41. These flaps are preferably made of resilient material, such as vulcanized rubber, and are each discharged from conduit section 19, directly it b secured t h lower edge f th P P of the f i the sldes of h corresponding side wall portions 23. As an head would not be m the P P of example of suitable securing means, I have currents, and thusanon-uniform drying effect shown h fl id d iflf n i t l would novel means f u g enlarged edge. ortion 42, which is retained proper distribution of a1r currents, I have b t n it 1 l i t i 43 a d th shown vanes or louvres 31 and 32 disposed =1ower edge of the diffuser. These. deflecting adjacent the small end portion 18 of the difstrips are preferably inclined inwardly as fuser 17, so as to deflect and distribute air is apparent from Fig. 3. The air-streams currents being discharged downwardly towhich ass downwardly along-the sides of ward the large QIMLOf the diffuser. Louvres the diffiiser, strike. strips 41 and are thereby 31 are preferably offset from the centeredline defiected i'nwardly against the sides of the 33 of diffuser 17, and extend in substantially users head.

the same general direction as the correspond- With the connection shown between the ing side wall portions 23. They are also posiconduit section 19 and difl'user 17, it has been tioned at an angle to the center line 33 so as f nd that too I eat a volume of air tends to deflect air currents striking the same tot0 be dlscharge forwardl n along h wards the corresponding side wall portions front Wall Portlon an across thfi users 23, as shown in Fig. 3. Louvres 32 are spaced and inclined similarly with respect to center line 33, but in a direction opposite from the inclination of louvres 31.

To facilitate manufacture, louvres 31 and 32 can be in the form of flat metal strips, havfrictionally retained within an annular U- shaped portion 36 formed integral with the walls of diffuser 17. Portion-36 is adapted to telescopically interfit an annular socket portion 37 formed upon the adjacent end of conduit section 19, and a plurality of set screws 38 threaded thru portion 37, serve as convenient means for forming a detachable forehead. Referring to Fig. 4, I offset this tendency by the use of additional louvres 46 which preferably extend substantial-1y at right angles to louvres 31. Louvres 46 are both inclined in the same direction, so as to tend to distribute an adequate amount of air down along the back wall 26, thus preventin too large a quantity of air being discharge from the front of the diffuser. Louvr as 46 can also be in the form of flat metal strips ositioned adjacent louvre's 31 and 32, and .aving their ends suitably secured to the adjacent end portion of conduit section 19.

The operation of my complete aparatus will be apparent from the above description. Generally the user is seated below the diffuser 17, and the diffuser is lowered over the users head. The blower, and heating element with hot air are then put in operatlon to deliver air currents to the diffuser. The diffuser distributes air to all parts of the head to secure uniform and quick drying action. If desired the difi'user can be swung back to the position as shown in dotted lines in Fig.1, or it can be removed and other difi'users or other forms of air discharge nozzles can be substituted. I claim 1. In a hair drier, a bell shaped member adapted to accommodate the head of a user with the large open end thereof directed downwardly, a conduit connected to the smaller end of said member, means for causing a flow of air thru the conduit into said member, said member having front, side,and back wall portions corres onding generally to the front, sides and halo of the head ofa user, and air deflecting vanes disposed near the small end of said member, said vanes extending in the same general direction as the side walls and being arranged at different deflecting angles to deflect air currents away from the center of said member towards both side wall portions.

2.v In a hairdrier, a bell shaped member adapted to accommodate the head of a user so with the large open end thereof directed downwardly, a conduit connected to the smaller end of saidmember, means for causing a. flow ofair thru the conduit into said member, said member having front, side, and u; back wall portions corresponding generally to the front. sides and back of the head of a user, and air deflecting louvres disposed near the discharge end of the conduit, said louvres beins! set at opposite angles with respect to 40 the center line of the conduit to deflect air currents away from the center of said member towards both side wall portions; said louvres extending in the same general direction as the side wall portions of said member. 3. In a hair drier, a' bell shaped member adapted to accommodate-the head of a user, means for delivering a stream of air into said member; a plurality of vanes for deflecting the stream of air toward the sides of said member and another vane for directing a portion of said stream downwardly toward the neck of the user. 4. In a hair drier, a bell shaped member adapted to accommodate the head of a user, means for delivering a stream of air into said member, a'plurality of vanes for deflecting a portion of the stream of air toward the sides of'said member without affecting the direc- 50 tion of another portion of the stream, and another vane for directing part of thestream downwardly toward the neck of the user.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. i6 HENRI G. LEVY. 

